On Sunday morning, May 10, 1925, the train pulling the private coach of the cardinal archbishop of New York drew alongside the depot in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. As he waited on the platform, Bishop Kelley must have reflected on how well his plan had succeeded. Besides the several dozen churchmen present, including a number of bishops invited from around the country, the station area was crowded with Okmulgee civic officials and townspeople who were vying for elbow room with reporters from all over the state. As Cardinal Hayes stepped from the train, it was the culmination of weeks of excitement and expectation engendered by a masterful publicity campaign. That afternoon in the midst of a large crowd the red-robed cardinal laid the cornerstone of the ambitious new Saint Anthony’s church in Okmulgee. He and his entourage then boarded the train for Tulsa, where he was again received by throngs of people, even though it was nearly midnight when the train arrived.

Monday the Cardinal began his first full day in Tulsa “as a simple priest” (in the words of one reporter) by offering Mass at Holy Family. Then he stepped out of the spotlight to permit Bishop Kelley to honor the man who, more than any other, had made the festive week possible. At nine o’clock Mass the Bishop conferred on Holy Family’s pastor the title and insignia of a domestic prelate, making him a member of the papal court with the privilege of being addressed as Right Reverend Monsignor. Father Renier Sevens, diocesan vicar for missions, also was created a monsignor in that ceremony.

At noon the two monsignori were guests of honor with Cardinal Hayes at a dinner hosted by the Knights of Columbus, who were holding their state convention in Tulsa. That

evening T. Austin Gavin presided as toastmaster at a civic banquet at the Mayo Hotel, followed by a public reception at Convention Hall. Tuesday, May 12, was the day set for the consecration of Holy Family Church. The five-hour ceremony began at 7:30 in the morning. As Bishop Meerschaert had done eleven years before, the cardinal sprinkled the walls of the church with holy water. He anointed the main door posts with holy oil where crosses had been newly carved in the stone to mark the spot. As chanters sang psalms and litanies, he traced a great cross on the floor of the nave and anointed the interior walls in twelve places, afterwards lighting a candle before each of the anointed spots. Finally, he consecrated an altar within the church for the celebration of the Eu- charist. Since the three principal altars had already been consecrated, the small shrine altar in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the one consecrated on this day. (This shrine originally stood in the southwest corner of the church, near the sanctuary; it has since been moved to the sacristy, where it is used for Masses offered in private.) The consecration completed, the Cardinal retired to a throne in the sanctuary for the solemn Mass offered by Bishop Kelley, The sermon was preached by the Very Reverend Michael S. Ryan, C.M., president of Kenrick Seminary, the alma mater of Monsignor Heiring. All of the former pastors and assistant pastors took part in the ceremonies; thirty-seven priests had major ceremonial roles. The church was filled to capacity, and hundreds stood outside to follow the rites as best they could.

Following a luncheon for the large group of clergy present, Cardinal Hayes was driven to Saint John’s hospital- ·newly named in honor of the patron saint of Monsignor Heiring–where he was to lay the cornerstone of the nearly finished building. On the way to the hospital, the automobile cavalcade stopped at the corner of Fifteenth and Quincy, where the cardinal turned the first spadeful of earth for the

new church for Sacred Heart parish. (Construction on the church did not begin for some months after this ground- breaking, and by the time it was completed the parish had assumed a new name. In December, 1925, Pope Pius XI established the feast of Christ the King. A year later, on De- cember 16, 1926, the women of Sacred Heart parish reorganized as Christ the King Altar Society. The new church in contemporary style was dedicated under the title of Christ the King in May, 1928.)

At the cornerstone laying, Bishop Henry Tihen of Denver spoke before a crowd of some two thousand persons. In the evening there was another banquet, this time at Holy Family, where the combined children’s choirs of Holy Family and Sacred Heart parishes presented a program before the packed auditorium. Responding to the speeches of the evening, Cardinal Hayes said,

You have told me how much this day has meant to you. I doubt if you realize how much it has meant to me. Today I have sunk the spade into your soil; there we will sow Christ. From there will grow a church that is to be a source of strength and benediction to your whole city. I have laid the cornerstone for your great hospital, and I have consecrated your finished monument to Christ, your church. Never before in my life have done these three things in one perfect trinity of a day. It is an indication of life, promise, and permanence. As today has marked a great day in my life, may it be to you symbolic and typical of your work.

The next morning the cardinal’s train left for Pawhuska. There the cardinal and his party-·including seven bishops– were feted at the ranch of Pierce St. John, a prominent Osage. At four o’clock Cardinal Hayes dedicated the newly-enlarged parish church, administered confirmation to a hundred parishioners, and received an Osage ceremonial headdress. After a final entertainment at the Pawhuska country club, the cardinal boarded the train again for Oklahoma City. On Fri- day he proceeded to Dallas and New Orleans, thence to Chicago and finally home to New York.

Cardinal Hayes’ visit to Oklahoma was nothing less than a triumph. In those royalty-conscious days a genuine prince, even a prince of the Catholic Church, was an object of wonder and admiration, and the cardinal drew great numbers of Oklahomans wherever he appeared. His presence dominated the state media for days, and reporters found him approachable and easy to interview. For the Catholic community, the visit provided a great boost of morale.